New models in the Pirelli PZero Racing range of mens luxury watches
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Technology and high precision

by18 March 2010

Pirelli’s PZero Racing collection of mens luxury watches has been extended with three new models: Racing Chrono Red Strap, Racing Chrono All Black, and Dual Time. They are an expression of Pirelli’s industrial design heritage and its expertise in high technology for motor racing. Pirelli was in fact supplying tyres to racing teams as early as 1907, for car and motorcycle tournaments. Still today its tyres feature strongly in Formula 1, Rally and Superbike competitions.

Racing Chrono Red Strap is the sportiest and toughest-looking version, with bezel in gunmetal sunray finish, dial in carbon black, and contrasting light-coloured subdials. The most eye-catching feature is of course the red strap, matching the buttons and buckle.
Racing Chrono All Black has a more metropolitan style, with case and bezel in gunmetal sunray finish, matt black dial, and silver subdial indices. The brand-new model Racing Dual Time features a total black look, ideal for all times of day and all locations. Its dual dial enables the user to be constantly aware of the time both here and there, so to speak, in another time zone. The watch contains two movements, an automatic ETA 901.001 for the main dial, and a quartz movement (ETA 26.71) for the secondary dial. For all models, the straps recall the historic MS38 tyre tread.

Disk_O is an outstanding high-technology luxury sport watch model, with a very different appearance, in part based on the strap in natural rubber which recalls slick racing tyres. Likewise the bezel is a reference to the disc brakes of exclusive car models, with a red “brake calliper,” available in four colour options, red, yellow, black and steel. The dial is in real carbon fibre, the material used in disc brakes and exceptional for its lightness and strength. The entire watch gives the impression of reassuring volume, though in fact it is extremely light.

The PZero project was constructed on the basis of market research in combination with fashion and design. A survey showed that the Pirelli brand expressed much more than just tyres: glamour, and a sexy, fashionable aura, in large part due to the legendary Pirelli calendar. In 2002, this cross-marketing experiment began with a range of products, of which two became cult objects: sailing shoes, the Pirelli PZero Acqua model, and a technical jacket, Pirelli PZero Aria. Today, the project has become a total look. The style office comprises seven designers, with three licensees (Incom for garments, Morellato & Sector for watches, and Tecnorib for rubber dinghies). Many products are designed entirely in-house, including bags and shoes. Distribution comprises 300 top retailers in Italy, and stores all over the world, above all Spain, Benelux, the UK, Russia and the Middle East.

Pirelli PZero succeeded in consolidating the brand image, and it became a status symbol for a generation, attaining unexpected success. When a corner shop was opened at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, its stock ran out immediately, and massive waiting lists built up, with bookings for 400 different models. Equally successful was the Pirelli PZero rubber dinghy, launched in May 2006, and likewise the Winter Sottozero skis. The latter were high-tech objects featuring liquid metal memory, or “Liquidmetal.” 200 numbered sets were manufactured and sold in exclusive ski resorts such as Cortina d’Ampezzo and St. Moritz.
PZero has become a case history for fashion and design students as a result of its remarkable success, based on the identification of important niche areas in which calibrated design and luxury-level quality are hallmarks that can assure product popularity.